Ancient World Review

More Attacks On Christian Churches (Sept. 2020)

Video from Aug. 2019. These attacks have been going on for years now.

"Vatican City, Sep 8, 2020 / 06:30 am MT (CNA).- Attacks on churches in France are back to their 'normal' level following a nationwide lockdown, according to an organization led by young Catholics." (Catholic News Agency)

Note: "Since 2017, the Paris-based L’Observatoire de la Christianophobie (Observatory of Christianophobia) has recorded anti-Christian incidents in France month by month on interactive maps. The most recent map available, for August 2020, shows 11 incidents, comprising six acts of vandalism and five thefts. The Observatory recorded nine disturbances on its map for August 2019."

Video from Sept. 10, 2020.

"T. CATHARINES, Ontario, September 9, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — A tabernacle stolen from a Canadian Catholic cathedral early Tuesday morning was found Wednesday lying in a canal — but the consecrated Hosts that had been in it were nowhere to be seen.

"Two people were caught on surveillance cameras breaking into St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral about 4:30 A.M. on September 8, Catholic News Agency reported."

Note: Over the years, there have been dozens of cases in Canada and the US of thieves stealing tabernacles for whatever reason. Motives seem to range from simple vandalism to host desecration, general anti-Catholic sentiment and theft for financial gain (some of these tabernacles are valuable or apparently valuable historical relics). In some cases, Satanists may have been after the consecrated wafers for ritual use:

"... a Black Mass takes the Catholic Mass and inverts it, intentionally mocking the Catholic celebration. Participants often use a consecrated Eucharistic host and desecrate it, using it in obscene ways. This is one of the reasons why tabernacles in Catholic churches have locks and why some parishes have an usher stand next to a communion line. Both policies aim at protecting the Eucharist from being used in a Black Mass." (Wikipedia)

Video from Sept. 17, 2020.

"A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was vandalized at Shrine Church of Our Lady of Solace. Praying for the church, as parishioners come together to raise funds to repair the statue important to the whole #ConeyIsland community. @TabletNewspaper https://t.co/aBkhpnClbF." - — Diocese of Brooklyn (@BrooklynDiocese) September 16, 2020. (CBS New York).

Video from Sept. 15, 2020.

"EL PASO, Texas, September 17, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – In yet another instance of vandalism directed at churches and religious symbols, a 30-year-old man on Tuesday toppled and destroyed a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus located on the high altar of the cathedral in El Paso, Texas.

"St. Patrick Cathedral, north of downtown, was vandalized on Sept. 16 at around 10 am, the diocese announced on Instagram. 'A suspect came into the sanctuary at St. Patrick Cathedral and destroyed the almost 90-year-old statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was located in the center behind the main altar of the church. The church was open and available for prayer.'" (LifeSite News)

Comment: These are only a few of the incidents which have been reported this month. A simple search will turn up hundreds of cases stretching back for years. Vandalism, arson, attacks on priests and in some cases mass shootings have been taking place in churches all around the world for some time now, and the Catholic church seems to be a prime target. I haven't been able to find any statistical evidence to support this conclusion, but my impression is that these attacks have been increasing dramatically for the last decade. Maybe that just reflects the fact that they're being reported more often -- I don't know -- but some sources believe that "these shocking events are undeniable proof that religious hostility is rising across America." (First Liberty) Whatever the case, these attacks are just another symptom of the ongoing collapse of the West.

Related: Desecration of Catholic Churches Across U.S. Leaves Congregations Shaken (WSJ, July 22, 2020).

Attacks on Catholic Statues Continues Over Weekend (CNA, July 20, 2020).

Churches Burned and Statues of Mary Vandalized in Churches Across U.S. (Rome Reports, July 13, 2020).

The Battle On The Ice 1242 AD (Updated)

Subject starts at app 0:40.

"The Battle on the Ice ... was fought between the Republic of Novgorod led by prince Alexander Nevsky and the forces of Livonian Order and Bishopric of Dorpat led by bishop Hermann of Dorpat on April 5, 1242, at Lake Peipus [see next video]. The battle is notable for having been fought largely on the frozen lake, and this gave the battle its name." Source: Wikipedia.

"The battle was a significant defeat sustained by the crusaders during the Northern Crusades, which were directed against pagans and Eastern Orthodox Christians rather than Muslims in the Holy Land. The Crusaders' defeat in the battle marked the end of their campaigns against the Orthodox Novgorod Republic and other Slavic territories for the next century."

It's easy to forget that the Crusades weren't just fought against Muslims in the so-called Holy Land, but also against pagans and other Christians in Europe. Technically, a crusade was any church-sanctioned campaign and military/religious orders, i.e., organized gangs, like the Teutonic Knights were used to forcibly convert or slaughter unbelievers and suppress rivals to Rome's hegemony. And these "holy warriors" went rogue sometimes, operating like bandits or mercenaries in the pursuit of their own interests when they weren't massacring Jews and Saracens or attacking Christian kingdoms.

This is how "orthodox" Christianity took over the West. The Eastern Orthodox Church managed to stand up to the onslaught, however. It is now the second largest Christian church in the world, due in large part to its military victories over Catholic forces:

"The legacy of the battle, and its decisiveness, came because it halted the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Order [1] and established a permanent border line through the Narva River and Lake Peipus dividing Eastern Orthodoxy from Western Catholicism. The knights' defeat at the hands of [Alexander Nevsky's] forces prevented the crusaders from retaking Pskov, the linchpin of their eastern crusade. The Novgorodians succeeded in defending Russian territory, and the crusaders never mounted another serious challenge eastward. Alexander was canonised as a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1574." (Wikipedia)

[1] "Throughout the 13th and 14th century CE the Catholic Teutonic knights crusaded in Prussia and the Baltic area mainly against pagan Lithuanians and Orthodox Russians, but as the order was bent on expansion for its own sake, many other nationalities were fought besides those." (Ancient History Encyclopedia)

From the 1938 film Alexander Nevsky directed by Eisenstein. Music by Prokofiev. Full movie can be found here.

Despite the fact that he agreed to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, Alexander Nevsky is a legendary figure in Russia, a major national hero. Churches and cathedrals have been named after him. "On 24 September 2008, St. Alexander Nevsky was declared the main hero of Russia's history by popular vote ... In December 2008, he was voted the greatest Russian in the Name of Russia television poll." (Wikipedia)

"Hail and take heed, this is the tale one of the most famous Russian Heroes in history, second only to perhaps Vladimir of Kiev, the Baptizer of All Rus’. Few leaders have captured the hearts and minds of the Russians like Alexander Nevsky, who was voted Russia’s greatest leader of all time in 2008." Source: Russia Insider (2018).

The Catholic Holy Relic Racket (Updated)

The traffic in holy relics was one of the biggest scams perpetuated by the medieval Catholic church, ranking up there with the sale of indulgences. Relics were tourist attractions in the middle ages, just like they are today. Back in the medieval world, an insignificant local parish could become wealthy and famous by attracting pilgrims, so it's not very surprising that relics were in high demand. They could be almost anything -- the bones of a saint, a lock of a martyr's hair, the "Holy Prepuce,"  the fingernails of an early church father, a vial of sweat from the brow of Jesus, a scrap of wood from the True Cross, etc., etc. Most, if not all of them, were fake, of course, but the faithful never asked any questions.

Relics were sacred power objects. They were also infectious, i.e., the magical power in a relic could be very conveniently transferred to another object by contact, thus creating an almost infinite supply of relics which could then be set up in their own shrines.

"...relics aren't necessarily always body parts," according to Vice. "They come in three different flavors: First-class relics are body parts, second-class relics are pieces of clothing or things the saints touched while they were alive, and third-class relics are objects that other relics have touched. A relic has power no matter where it falls on this hierarchy, which is why you have so many lying around, and so many folks praying to them."

Body parts had the most talismanic power and were highly prized for their ability to extract money from pilgrims. For example, the bones of Saint Nicholas were thought to exude "a clear watery liquid which smells like rose water, called manna (or myrrh), which is believed by the faithful to possess miraculous powers," according to Wikipedia. The pilgrims who came to see these holy objects provided a major boost to local economies. Like modern tourists, they had to eat and sleep somewhere while they were in town. They would buy food, lodging and local products, not to mention the donations they made to the church.

Pilgrims still pay homage to the relics of St. Nicholas.

Abrahamic religions supposedly condemn idolatry, but if this isn't idolatry, I don't know what is. And there's no telling where these venerated objects came from originally. The conventional history of Nicholas's relics is a classic example of the way the relic traffic worked in the medieval world:

"Nicholas' tomb in Myra had become a popular place of pilgrimage. Because of the many wars and attacks in the region, some Christians were concerned that access to the tomb might become difficult. For both the religious and commercial advantages of a major pilgrimage site, the Italian cities of Venice and Bari vied to get the Nicholas relics. Taking advantage of the confusion, in the spring of 1087, sailors from Bari in Apulia seized part of the remains of the saint from his burial church in Myra, over the objections of the Greek Orthodox monks." (Wikipedia)

That's the story, anyway. There was no method for determining the authenticity of body parts in the middle ages, so the sailors could've just brought back some animal bones and passed them off as the bones of Saint Nicholas. Who would know the difference? And who knows if the original bones in Myra actually belonged to the saint? One way or another, the monks had good reason to complain about the theft of their valuable relics. Without them, they'd go out of business.

The Shroud of Turin, probably the most famous talismanic object associated with the Catholic church, is still a source of revenue. The church doesn't charge to view the shroud, but it attracts thousands of visitors every year and all kinds of shroud-related trip packages, hotel deals and walking tours are available at a price (1). And the controversy over the shroud's authenticity has spawned a minor publishing market for books arguing one side or another.

(1) Catholic pilgrimages, like Holy Land vacation deals, are a big business, and sometimes include an "audience with the Pope," assuming he isn't busy telling Europe to open its borders to unlimited immigration or trying to figure out how to deal with the church's latest pedophile scandal.

Next video shows Pope Francis praying in front of the Shroud of Turin back in 2015.

The belief in relics is still alive and well. In the case of the shroud, which is almost certainly a medieval forgery, many Christians are convinced that it actually shows the face of Christ despite the fact that no one knows what Jesus looked like (assuming that he ever actually existed). As for relics in general, a lot of people, especially in the third world, still believe that the remains of saints and various objects associated with church legends have some kind of supernatural power to heal disease and forgive sins.

In other words, a lot of Christians are devout fetishists.

Related:

Pilgrimage Routes and the Cult of the Relic

Hoaxes of the Middle Ages

Tuberculosis May Have Emerged In The Stone Age

The body of Bishop Peder Winstrup (1605-1679 AD). Video from 2015.

"When Anthropologist Caroline Arcini and her colleagues at the Swedish Natural Historical Museum discovered small calcifications in the extremely well preserved lungs of Bishop Peder Winstrup, they knew more investigation was needed. 'We suspected these were remnants of a past lung infection,' says Arcini, "and tuberculosis was at the top of our list of candidates. DNA analysis was the best way to prove it.'" Source: Science Daily.

The DNA analysis made it possible to compare a relatively modern strain of tuberculosis with a much older strain. The results suggest that tuberculosis emerged back in the Stone Age. According to one researcher, this is "the strongest evidence available to date for this emergence having been a Neolithic phenomenon."

Note: As described in the videos below and above (1:25), the bishop was interred with the remains of a baby:

"For almost 350 years Bishop Peder Winstrup lay quietly in his coffin in the crypt of the magnificent cathedral at Lund in Sweden, concealing a secret: the body of a tiny baby, tucked in under his feet." (The Guardian, 2015)

"The little corpse, believed to be of a baby born several months prematurely, was revealed for the first time when scientists scanned the coffin and the mummified body of Peder Winstrup, believed to be one of the best preserved 17th-century bodies in Europe."

Illegal Immigrant Holds Guard Hostage In Milan Cathedral

Video from Aug. 12, 2020.

"A North African migrant broke into Milan’s historic cathedral and took a security guard hostage with a knife. The migrant is said to have been sitting on the steps of the cathedral before the attack, arousing the suspicion of police officers who then approached him. As they did, he ran towards the entrance of the cathedral and overwhelmed a security guard." (Breitbart)

"According to a report from newspaper Il Giornale, the migrant took out a knife and took the security guard hostage, forcing him to kneel.

"Six police officers then encircled the migrant before tackling and disarming him."

Comment: This was just one incident in the ongoing culture war against Christianity in Europe.

The Mysteries Of Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral is a spectacular example of the way Christianity usurped the old pagan religions and literally built its churches over the sacred sites of the pagan world in an attempt to erase them from history.

According to Chartres Cathedral.net, " the town of Chartres has been of religious importance since ancient times. It was the site of Druid ceremonies, which were held around a well that was later discovered under the cathedral crypt.

"Sometime later, a Gallo-Roman temple stood on the same spot. The early Christians erected a basilica there during the 4th century, and St. Bernard preached the Second Crusade there in 1146. Later in history, Chartres was the coronation site of Henry IV in 1594."

Part Two here.

Chartres is surrounded by legends, many of which can be traced back to pagan beliefs. According to Ancient Origins, "[the legendary roots of the site] come from the time when Druids, the Celtic priests of Britain and Gaul, held sacred rites there." A Druidic statue of the mother goddess of infants found at the site may have inspired the Christian legend that the pagans "had foretold the story of a virgin who would give birth to a child for the good of the world." This is speculative, but it makes sense considering the way the Christians hijacked pagan beliefs to support their new religion.

"During the Gallo-Roman times, the underground waters of the site were believed to have been revered by the Druids. Legend also says that Roman soldiers attacked Christians while they were celebrating their faith at the virgin shrine. It seems that Christians identified the mother goddess of the Druids with the virgin Mary." (Ibid)

The cathedral has been associated with the Knights Templar, the famous Catholic military order founded in 1199 to protect pilgrims traveling to the Kingdom of Jerusalem after its liberation by the First Crusade. Originally consisting of only nine men who could do little more than provide an armed escort for pilgrims to the Holy Land, the order grew into one of the richest and most powerful organizations of its day until it was violently suppressed and virtually exterminated in 1307.

Surrounded by conspiracy theories then as now, "[t]he Knights Templar have become associated with legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times," (Wikipedia). According to Ancient Origins, the Chartres cathedral's association with the Templars comes from the two black madonnas which can be seen there:

"According to legend, the Black Madonna was a lady of the Templars. The statue of the Black Madonna with a child was commissioned in 1508. It is perhaps a black wooden copy of the silver Madonna that was located on the main altar before. The statue sits on the top of the pillar and is often called the ''Lady of the Pillar''. Before the French Revolution, the Chartres Cathedral had a second Black Madonna in the crypt. Unfortunately, it was probably burned during the revolution, although some resources are convinced that the church didn't suffer in this period. Today, tourists and pilgrims can see a copy in the church that was made in 1857. "

These black madonnas are apparently found in churches all over France and other countries in Europe.

"Throughout Europe, especially in France, about 500 Black Madonnas, painted or carved in wood or stone, stand in Catholic churches, with a few in museums. Most date from the 11^th to the 15^th centuries. These medieval images of the Virgin holding the Christ Child gaze benignly on their devotees, who come as pilgrims and associate them with miracles and healing." Source: Europe Up Close.

I'm not sure what to think about the Templar connection with these images, but they seem to have a pre-Christian origin. According to Europe Up Close, "many scholars say that the Black Madonna is a link to religions that existed long before Christianity. Her shrines are often in locations that were once pagan shrines to Diana, Artemis of Ephesus, Cybele and other goddesses. Some Black Madonna figures look just like the Egyptian goddess Isis with her infant son Horus, showing the influence of old ways on changing faiths. Even further back than that, she may represent the archetypal Earth Mother, the ancient, eternal power of the feminine force."

The great Oswald Spengler saw the Gothic cathedrals as prime symbols of the Faustian spirit of Western civilization, but even though Spengler believed that the Classical and Western worlds were fundamentally separate the pre-Christian influences on Christianity, especially on Catholicism, can be seen both in its teachings and its architecture. These fantastic cathedrals contain all sorts of mysteries that can be traced back to very ancient times. As for the Chartres cathedral, it was being restored back in 2015 (I'm not sure if the work has been completed yet). The renovation apparently created a lot of controversy.

Video from 2016.

The Eerie "Jesus Lamb Face" Revealed By The Restoration Of The Ghent Altarpiece

"Restoration of a 15th-century painting of a sheep representing the sacrifice of Jesus had the internet freaking out earlier this year over the Jesus lamb's uncannily human expression, which had been covered up by conservation work dating to centuries ago. New analysis of the painting reveals how and why that unnerving face was hidden from view." Source: Live Science.

"The sheep — which is also bleeding from a chest wound into a golden chalice — appears in the centerpiece of an 18-panel religious painting called 'The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb,' painted by brothers Jan and Hubert Eyck in 1432. The Mystic Lamb's newly revealed face is eerily human and far creepier than the previous face, with forward-facing eyes and an expression that looks appalled with your terrible life choices."

I hate to admit it but I'd never heard of the Ghent Altarpiece until now. This strange masterpiece is full of incredible detail and the main panel showing the sacrificial Mystic Lamb is extremely eerie. In some ways it reminds me of Hieronymus Bosch's early works.

Part Two below.

The Eyck brothers were master craftsmen and the altarpiece is a prime example of Western artistic technique at its finest:

"Indebted to the International Gothic as well as Byzantine and Romanic traditions, the altarpiece represented a significant advancement in western art, in which the idealisation of the medieval tradition gives way to an exacting observation of nature and human representation. A now lost inscription on the frame stated that Hubert van Eyck maior quo nemo repertus (greater than anyone) started the altarpiece, but that Jan van Eyck — calling himself arte secundus (second best in the art) — completed it in 1432. The altarpiece is in its original location, while its original, very ornate, carved outer frame and surround, presumably harmonizing with the painted tracery, was destroyed during the Reformation; it may have included clockwork mechanisms for moving the shutters and even playing music." (Wikipedia)

Section on the Mystic Lamb begins at 4:55.

The altarpiece has been undergoing restoration for the last eight years, but the seriously creepy face of the Mystic Lamb was only revealed during the last round of restorations:

"The eight outer panels were restored between 2012 and 2016; some 70% of the outer panels' surface had been overpainted in the 16th century, a subtle discovery made possible by advances in imaging techniques during the 2010s. Restoration of the five lower panels, which took three years, was completed in January 2020, and they were returned to St Bavo's Cathedral. The uncovering of the original face of the Lamb of God was a notable change; the original Lamb has unusually humanoid features, with forward-facing eyes that appear to look directly at the viewer of the panel." (Wikipedia)

Considering all the attacks on churches which have been taking place recently, I only hope that this cathedral and its priceless artwork have adequate security.

Related: Restoring Van Eyck: Challenges of the Ghent Altarpiece

Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck Explained

St. Bavo's Cathedral In Ghent, Belgium

"The building is built on the site of the former Chapel of St. John the Baptist, primarily of wooden construction that was consecrated in 942 by Transmarus, Bishop of Tournai and Noyon. Traces of a later Romanesque structure can be found in the cathedral's crypt. Construction of the Gothic church began around 1274." (Wikipedia)

"In the subsequent period from the 14th through 16th centuries, nearly continuous expansion projects in the Gothic style were executed on the structure. A new choir, radiating chapels, expansions of the transepts, a chapter house, nave aisles and a single-tower western section were all added."

Refugee Who Volunteered At Nantes Cathedral Confesses To Starting Fire

"A Rwandan refugee who volunteered as a warden at France's 15th-century Nantes cathedral has confessed to setting the blaze that gutted its interior a week ago, his lawyer said on Sunday." Source: Reuters (7/26/20).

"The suspect, whose name has not been made public, was taken into custody on Saturday following his confession. He had been arrested and released earlier in the investigation."

Comment: The fire happened last week (July 18). When I posted the news I gave this "refugee" the benefit of the doubt because the cops had released him, but it turns out that he did it after all. Surprise, surprise. Maybe he's mentally ill, but he was pretty deliberate about setting the fire that destroyed so many priceless treasures:

"[The suspect] admitted during his first appearance for questioning before the investigating judge that he set three fires in the cathedral: at the main organ [next video], the smaller organ, and the electrical panel..." (France24, 7/26/20)

"...While firefighters were able to contain the Nantes blaze after just two hours and save the main structure, its famed organ, which dated from 1621 and had survived the French Revolution and World War II bombardment, was destroyed.

"Also lost were priceless artefacts and paintings, including a work by the 19th-century artist Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin and stained glass windows that contained remnants of 16th-century glass."

Main organ, Nantes Cathedral. Video from 2010.

A 3D Visualization Of Beckett's Shrine

"The shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, at Canterbury Cathedral, was one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in medieval England, visited for hundreds of years by those seeking miraculous healing. However in 1538 the shrine was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation." Source: Medievalists.net.

"After many years of debate among historians over how the shrine would have looked, the new, freely-viewable reconstruction uses all the available evidence to establish the most accurate recreation to-date. It is also the first reconstruction to be based upon surviving fragments of the shrine discovered in and around Canterbury Cathedral since the nineteenth century."

Beckett was murdered in 1170 AD. He was killed over a disagreement about coronation rights, a secular rather than a religious matter, so I'm not sure why he's considered to be a martyr:

"In June 1170, Roger de Pont L'Évêque, the archbishop of York, along with Gilbert Foliot, the Bishop of London, and Josceline de Bohon, the Bishop of Salisbury, crowned the heir apparent, Henry the Young King, at York. This was a breach of Canterbury's privilege of coronation, and in November 1170 Becket excommunicated all three." (Wikipedia)

Highly displeased, the Young King is thought to have said something like "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" It's unclear whether Henry actually used those words, but his men interpreted whatever he said as a command to kill Beckett. Four knights rode to Canterbury and demanded that Beckett account for his actions. When he refused, they dispatched him in what at least one contemporary account described as an incredibly gory scene:

"......the impious knight... suddenly set upon him [Beckett] and [shaved] off the summit of his crown which the sacred chrism consecrated to God... Then, with another blow received on the head, he remained firm. But with the third the stricken martyr bent his knees and elbows, offering himself as a living sacrifice, saying in a low voice, 'For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church I am ready to embrace death.' But the third knight inflicted a grave wound on the fallen one; with this blow... his crown, which was large, separated from his head so that the blood turned white from the brain yet no less did the brain turn red from the blood; it purpled the appearance of the church... The fifth – not a knight but a cleric who had entered with the knights... placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr and (it is horrible to say) scattered the brains with the blood across the floor, exclaiming to the rest, 'We can leave this place, knights, he will not get up again.'" -- from The Life of St. Thomas, by the suitably named Edward Grim.